Kazakhstan has improved its standing in the Global Innovation Index 2026, rising from 81st to 73rd place — its best result in a decade, according to infohub.kz.
The news was announced by the republic's Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ranking assessed 139 economies worldwide, and Kazakhstan moved up eight places in a single year.
Among Central Asian states, the country took first place, and among the 11 economies of Central and South Asia it ranked second. In the group of 35 upper-middle-income countries, Kazakhstan placed 17th.
The most notable progress came in the innovation outputs sub-index, where the country rose from 84th to 73rd. On innovation inputs, Kazakhstan's position improved from 75th to 73rd.
The index results were presented at WIPO headquarters in Geneva during a preliminary briefing for permanent representatives of the organization's member states.
Throughout 2026, Kazakhstan's mission in Geneva worked with WIPO on specific index indicators, their calculation methodology and data quality. At its initiative, the organization's experts held an online consultation with Kazakh government agencies.
Participants reviewed the country's indicators, data sources, missing and outdated statistics, and priorities for further work. Following the consultations, the mission prepared recommendations for the relevant government agencies. Particular attention was paid to the quality of international statistics and the timely reporting of Kazakhstan's data.
The mission noted that this work made it possible to move from annual monitoring of the ranking to an analysis of specific indicators, information sources and the policy measures required.
Opportunities for further growth remain in research and development funding, university-business cooperation, venture financing, the development of innovation clusters and software, and the output of scientific and technical publications.
The mission will continue to work with WIPO on the index's indicators and methodology. Government agencies intend to focus on consolidating the result and further improving Kazakhstan's position.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that NERO Group and China's UBTECH Robotics plan to invest $440 million in localizing the production of artificial intelligence robots at the Park of Innovative Technologies SEZ in Almaty. Of that sum, $340 million will go toward technology transfer for humanoid robot production, with NERO Group investing another $100 million. Localization of service and humanoid robots is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2027, with a stated production capacity of 1,000 units.